1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a therapeutic glove for exercising the fingers of a hand, including a glove body having finger portions each with a tip, a ring surrounding the tip of each finger portion, an anchor rod for each finger portion, a channel below the surface of the glove body extending along the back of each finger portion from the ring to the anchor rod, and an elastic resistance band located in the channel and connecting together the ring and the anchor rod.
2. The Prior Art
The therapeutic glove for exercising the fingers of the hand is particularly useful for people who have suffered hand injuries, and need to perform therapeutic exercises to help build back the weak muscles of the fingers.
Most prior art therapeutic devices operate in the palm of the hand where a person either grips a spring-loaded pair of handles or squeezes some putty or a soft rubber object, such as a ball, in order to exercise the fingers. However, this can cause damage to the palm of the hand. In the past there have been attempts to solve this type of problem, and prior proposals are as follows.
The Fabry U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,123 discloses a weighted exercise glove garment having at least one pocket made of an elastic material positioned over the back of the wearer's hand. This elastic material can be stretched to snugly hold one or more objects such as weights.
The Patton U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,612 discloses a protective work glove which comprises a glove having finger- and hand-protective chambers insertable therein. Specifically, there is a flexible connector which connects together protective members, which members may be made of metal, plastic or any other lightweight stiff material, such as aluminum, PVC or a fiber-reinforced plastic. The flexible connector strip could be made of cloth or a plastic strip such as polyolefin, nylon or the like. A foam layer may be plastic or elastic foam having a good tear resistance.
The Gold U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,175 discloses a padded glove which selectively protects certain portions of the wearer's hand. There are padded chambers located along the back of the hand and extending from approximately the tips of the fingers across the back of the hand portion and down to the wrist seam. It is indicated that the padding is preferably a continuous strip of foam padding. It is stated that the padded chambers can be narrow padding and cover only a small portion of the fingers in the glove.
However, the Gold patent, which has various padded chambers along the back of the foam-padded finger portions of the glove, does not suggest having elastic bands to exercise the fingers for therapeutic effects. The Gold patent also does not indicate that the various padded chambers which are used to protect the wearer's hand have the type of resiliency needed to cause bent fingers to spring back and straighten out, nor does it disclose specific structure for affixing the bands to the back of the gloves, namely, the rings at the tip of the fingers and the attachment means at the back of the glove.